Markus
13-Sep-2011, Isles of Shoals, NH

Spent a day and night here before continuing south on Wednesday, destination Plymouth, MA. A very interesting place here, largely uninhabited, save for a research station and a Star Cooperation retreat (they own the main Island, now named Star Island). These Isles were the only spot that Captain John Smith (who coined the term New England in the 17th century) had originally named after himslef ("Smith Islands") but the name didn't stick...

Were glad to meet up with Bob and Maggie from Decoy who also arrived from Portland. They will head out again tonight already to make it to the Newport boatshow by the weekend.

06 - US East Coast Southbound

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Markus
12-Sep-2011, Portland, ME

Picked up a mooring at Portland Yacht Services this morning after a short early morning sail from The Goslings. Were expecting to stay for 2 days to knock some jobs off the boat to-do list. However, after a brief look at the weather forecast decided that we should continue southwards to the Isles of Shoals the same night because we might otherwise be stuck for longer than planned. So we did real whirlwind turnaround with laundry, major food shopping and a few other errands in town (incl. a look at lobsters for Nicky in the picture above), to slip our mooring at 7:30 pm for our first overnight leg this time around. Ended up motoring into a moderate headwind to reach the Isles of Shoals (off Portsmouth, NH) by daybreak the next morning.

05 - Maine Shakedown Cruising

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Markus
11-Sep-2011, The Goslings

We're back at The Goslings tonight (a gfew miles NE from Portland) after a great sail from Christmas Cove (so named because Captain John Smith spent Christmas 1614 there), starting in light winds this morning and ending up beating into 15-20 kn across Casco Bay under sunny skies. This pretty much concludes our little "Maine Shakedown Cruise" which we greatly enjoyed over the past 9 days. We had some great sailing (incl. a longish 55 nm day from Seal Bay to Christmas Cove where we averaged 6+ kn which - at least on Namani's scale - feels fast!), beautiful anchorages, an enjoyable two days in Castine (despite the rain) and nice reunions with friends along the way. Namani did very well and the new suit of sails makes a big difference. There are some smaller jobs to take care of but by and large it feels like the ratio of sailing time to boat work time is over the hump for now ;-)

We'll have to run some errands in Portland tomorrow (Monday) and then plan on finally starting our way south. About time as temperaturtes start to get pretty chilly at night ...

The video below was taken during our sail today, approaching Cape Small with Seguin in the background. Nicky taking a nap in the cockpit. You can tell by Nana's clothing and Nicky's sleeping back that it's getting chilly despite the sunshine...

05 - Maine Shakedown Cruising

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